Raymond, Xavier crush Virginia again

B.J. Raymond scored 25 points, leading the 22nd-ranked
Musketeers to an 84-70 victory over the Cavaliers on Saturday.

Kenny Frease and Dante Jackson each had 13 for Xavier (11-2),
which embarrassed the Cavaliers, 108-70, last season.

Xavier head coach Sean Miller said last season's win was much
different.

"Last year was like one-in-a-million," Miller said. "It had a
lot more to do with us having one of those bizarre nights where
every shot we took went in. Keep in mind our team last year was
30-7 and in the Elite Eight.

"Our team last year was No. 3 seed in the (NCAA) Tournament.
They caught us at our very best and we couldn't miss. But this
year was much different. Different faces and a different game."

It may have been a different cast of characters, but the result
was the same. Xavier was in control the entire second half,
leading by as many as 25 points.

"We got beat today pretty soundly by a team that Sean has done a
terrific job of meshing together to play with a real purpose,"
Virginia head coach Dave Leitao said.

Virginia wasn't competitive save for early on when the Cavaliers
seemed intent on getting revenge for last season's blowout loss.
Virginia scored the first six points of the game. Unfortunately,
that was the highlight of the day for the Cavaliers (6-5).

It was a short-lived lead, though.

Xavier responded with a 23-2 run, and grabbed a commanding 42-26
lead after 20 minutes. Raymond scored seven points during the
key run.

"With the way we started, with the crowd ready and Virginia
ready, we took that first punch so to speak and sometimes you
don't get that back on the road," Miller said. "I thought once
we got through the first four minutes, our team settled in and
played our brand of basketball for about 24 minutes."

"After we got up 6-0, the margin was large enough that any one
specific thing, negatively, would hurt us. I didn't like how we
came out of the gate defensively," Leitao said. "Things that we
specifically worked on weren't there. I was again concerned when
they went up 15-8 because we weren't playing the game the way we
had planned to play it."

The Musketeers opened the second half on a 18-6 run to
effectively end any chances of a comeback.

"I am very, very proud of our team today," Miller said. "Anytime
you can come into the ACC on their home court and leave with a
hard-fought victory, any program relishes those opportunities
and certainly we do."